Due to lingering health issues from a concussion, the college search for our S will include both traditional colleges within a 2 hour drive and local colleges he can commute to from home. Should we consider online universities as well?
Are there any legitimate online universities? Liberty University is the only one that comes to mind. I know there are a lot of for profit universities to stay away from.
Would love to hear of any success stories with legitimate online universities.
There is a forum specifically for online degrees: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/online-degrees/
Nowadays, most large public universities and many community colleges have extensive online offerings. I’d suggest that you start your search with the public universities in your own home state.
Two public universities that have been offering distance ed for years and that now have large, well-respected online programs are:
http://www.umuc.edu/
http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/
Both of these also offer live classes at some locations - most often on or near US military bases.
Western Governors University and Southern New Hampshire are two not-for-profit and regionally accredited online institutions. (and yes… regional accreditation is what you are looking for…eg: NEASC; SACS; WASC; and preferably not-for-profit)
The technology is getting better and better…two typical programs are ASU’s and UF’s:
UF is very appealing to in-state students, since the state has mandated they can’t charge more than 75% of normal in-state tuition rates for UF Online, and no fees. Also the degree is a standard UF degree (and they are still selective with students).
Keep in mind that not all majors are a good fit for online, and most programs will offer a limited number of majors. For example, UF Online doesn’t (yet) offer engineering. Also, if you want the option of going to med school, an online program will not work, as med schools would rather you take your classes in a standard classroom environment. Out of State tuition rates are much higher (I’m thinking about $16,000 a year).
UF also started a new program: PaCE: Pathway to Campus Enrollment. In this program, your first 2 years (or less, it’s based on 60 credits, and you can count AP/DE/IB/AICE, etc.) is done via an online program, and then you move to campus to finish your last two years. This allows for a larger number of majors as compared to the standard online program. The advantage of PaCE, is that you’re accepted as a freshman, so you don’t have to go through the competitive transfer process when you come to campus, enrollment is automatic. The disadvantage, of course, is that your first 60 credits have to be online, and you still are some what limited in your choice of major. PaCE currently offers 60 degrees.
Hope your son feels better soon!
What major(s) are of interest?
More schools with on-line degree programs:
Arizona State University
University of North Dakota
He is most likely going to study computer science. He will not graduate until 2018, so we don’t know if time will allow for enough healing to have a normal college experience. But I want to have a variety of options to fit every possible scenario…5 years of high school if needed, gap year if needed, live at home, or live in a dorm (and finding colleges with single room options for freshman).
@happymomof1 I looked at the main forum page for an online group but I obviously missed that. Thanks for sharing that link.
It’s down near the bottom. It even took me a while to find it today!
If he is highly self-motivated, he may be able to learn a lot of CS on his own (though without any credit or a credential), since CS course materials are available on the web. For example:
http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/classes-eecs.html
CS 10 = introductory overview for non-majors and majors
CS 61A, 61B, 61C, 70 = frosh/soph courses for majors
CS 1XX = junior/senior courses
CS 2XX = graduate courses
For the schools mentioned so far, in terms of their availability of an online CS major:
ASU: no (has software engineering major)
Liberty: no
Florida: yes
Penn State: no
UMUC: yes (though course offerings appear limited)
UND: no
WGU: no
Of the above, the CS major at Florida is the most complete looking one.
Oregon State has an online CS major, but it is a post-baccelaureate program.
@ucbalumnus thanks for responding. I wondered if there was a way to learn computer science without going through the whole “college” thing. He is very motivated to learn what he wants to learn, and is already programming on his own. I just don’t know if he will have the same motivation to get through all the other required courses that a college would require.
Learning is harder for him with his brain injury, and after 18 months, is still having headaches and brain fog.